Ecclesiastes 2:17

17 So I came to hate life because everything done under the sun seemed wrong to me. Everything was pointless. [It was like] trying to catch the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:17

Therefore I hated life
Not strictly and simply understood, since life is the gift of God; and a great blessing it is, more than raiment, and so dear to a man, that he will give all he has for it: but comparatively, in comparison of the lovingkindness of God, which is better than life; or in comparison of eternal life, which a good man desires to depart from this world, for the sake of enjoying it. The sense seems to be this, that since the case of wise men and fools was equal, he had the less love for life, the less regard to it, the less desire to continue in it; no solid happiness being to be enjoyed in anything under the sun: though some think that he was even weary of life, impatient of it, as Job, Jonah, and others have been. The Targum is,

``I hate all evil life:''

Alshech interprets it of the good things of this world, which were the cause of hurt unto him; and Aben Ezra understands, by life, living persons; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me;
which was either wrought by himself; particularly his hard studies, and eager pursuits after knowledge and wisdom, which were a weariness to his flesh; or which were done by others, especially evil ones: so the Targum,

``for evil to me is an evil work, which is done by the children of men under the sun in this world;''

for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit; (See Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Ecclesiastes 2:17 In-Context

15 I thought to myself, "[If] the destiny that waits for the fool waits for me as well, then what is the advantage in being wise?" So I thought that even this is pointless.

16 Neither the wise person nor the fool will be remembered for long, since both will be forgotten in the days to come. Both the wise person and the fool will die.

17 So I came to hate life because everything done under the sun seemed wrong to me. Everything was pointless. [It was like] trying to catch the wind.

18 I came to hate everything for which I had worked so hard under the sun, because I will have to leave it to the person who replaces me.

19 Who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? He will still have control over everything under the sun for which I worked so hard and used my wisdom. Even this is pointless.